After the fire/London Furniture 1666 - 1714

The V&A's British Galleries have been criticised for showing only artefacts of the super-rich. For middle-class taste, you must go to the small-but-neatly-formed Geffrye Museum in Shoreditch. Founded in 1914 and located in a row of former almshouses, it consists of a series of period rooms. These celebrate middle-class life in all its prim and proper glory from 1600 onwards. A superb Lottery-funded extension now enables the museum to mount temporary exhibitions.

After the Fire: London Furniture 1666-1714 offers a fascinating insight into a key moment in our social and economic history. After the economic stagnation and political turmoil of the Civil War years, London boomed and international trade flourished. The rebuilding that followed the Great Fire in 1666 gave a huge boost to London's furniture manufacturers, and intense competition, fuelled by the arrival of designers fleeing from war-torn Europe, led to crucial innovations in style and manufacture. Many types of furniture which we take for granted (chests of drawers, corner cupboards and sofas) were introduced during this period. Productionwas streamlined and standardised, so much so that "secret" compartments in cabinet-desks were all too often in exactly the same place.

Methods and materials are clearly explained. A modern replica of a chest of drawers is shown at various stages of completion, so we can see how veneers, varnishes and ornamental inlays were applied. This was an age for looking beyond Europe. Great use was made of imported hardwoods and there was a craze for all things oriental. Out went massive, off-roader furniture covered in leather and carpet (all that's missing is bull-bars), and in came micro-light cane chairs. Typically, the period's most useful innovation is no longer made: the utterly divine day bed.